State Department apologises after promoting Trump's 'winter White House'

The US State Department has apologised after promoting President Donald Trump's Mar-a Lago resort in Florida on its website.

Describing the resort as ''The winter White House'', the department included information on the hotel on its Share America site – something critics said was an inappropriate promotion of Trump's business.

The original post gave details of the history of the resort, a mansion that was built by 1927 and originally owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post, as well as detailing Trump's personal history of ownership of the club, The Washington Post reported.

"By visiting this 'winter White House,' Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago's original owner and designer," the original post said, adding: "After refurbishing the house and adding an events space, Trump opened the estate to dues-paying members of the public in 1995 as the Mar-a-Lago Club.

"Post's dream of a winter White House came true with Trump's election in 2016. Trump regularly works out of the house he maintains at Mar-a-Lago and uses the club to host foreign dignitaries."

However, its inclusion on the taxpayer-funded site was criticised by a number of people, including Democrat senator Ron Wyden, who tweeted: "Why are taxpayer $$ promoting the President's private country club?"

Following the backlash, the original article was removed, with text on the website now reading: "The intention of the article was to inform the public about where the President has been hosting world leaders. We regret any misperception and have removed the post."

The private members club, which has increased its fees since Trump took office and reportedly fills up whenever the president is in town, has played host to a number of world leaders and business people since the Republican's inauguration in January.